Ohta

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Ohta (also Octa, Ochta or Ocga ), is considered an early king of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Kent from the Oiscingas dynasty .

Kent in Anglo-Saxon times

Life and legend

In the absence of contemporary sources, little more than his name is known about Ohta. Ohta is said to have ruled from around 512 to around 522 or 539. The later sources on Ohta are contradicting: Beda Venerabilis wrote around 730 that he was a son of Oeric and the father of Eormenric . In about 800, however, Nennius described him as the son of Hengest and father of Ossa (= Oisc / Oeric).

Ohta and his cousin Ebusa are said to have sailed north in 40 ships at the behest of Hengest and Vortigern and pillaged and conquered large areas of Scotland and the Orkney Islands . Geoffrey of Monmouth continued this legend in the 12th century. In Geoffrey's portrayal, Ohta fell in a battle against Uther Pendragon and was thus linked to the Arthurian legend. At least with regard to his deeds, Ohta can be classified as mythical. The historical time of Kent begins with Eormenric.

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Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Morby: Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical Handbook , Oxford University Press, Oxford 1989, ISBN 978-0-19-860473-0 , p. 64.
  2. ^ Ochta in Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
  3. ↑ Beda: HE 2.5
  4. ↑ Nennius : Historia Brittonum chap. 58.
  5. ↑ Nennius : Historia Brittonum chap. 38.
  6. ↑ Geoffrey of Monmouth: History of the Kings of Britain , Book 8 , 6-24 ( Wikisource )
  7. ^ Nicholas Brooks : Anglo-Saxon Myths: State and Church, 400-1066 . Hambledon & London, 1998, ISBN 978-1-85285-154-5 , The Kentish Origin Myth , pp. 37-46.
predecessor Office successor
Oeric King of Kent
512? –522/539? 		Eormenric
personal data
SURNAME Ohta
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Octa; Ochta; Ocga
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Kent
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century or 6th century
DATE OF DEATH 6th century